For Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton), being a mother ain't easy, what with having to raise her three children, care for her aging father-in-law, and clean up the dead bodies left in the yard—while her navy husband Alek is out at sea.

Teenage son Beau, a talented musician, is struggling with his homosexuality. One night he ends up in a struggle with his "friend", nightclub owner Darby Reese. Unbeknownst to the young Hall. Darby never walked away from that confrontation. When Margaret discovers the body, she panics, then dumps it in the lake.

Problems ensue owing to an item Darby left with a loan shark who tries to blackmail Beau's parents. Neither Margaret nor Alek are quite prepared for what fate has dealt them. The focus here is on Margaret and the intrusion this crisis places on her family's domestic life. It can't be easy to keep your cool when your kids' transportation demands interfere with your attempts to raise extortion money. Screened as part of Director's Fortnight, Cannes 2001. The Deep End is filled with watery scenes; through aquariums, inside a car wash, as water cascades in sheets across a windshield